Visitors Generate Their Own Power at the Live Green Expo Pedal Power Booth

On April 17, over 18,000 visitors descended on the 2010 Live Green Expo, organized by the City of Plano. The event included over 200 exhibitors who educated the community about sustainable practices and promoted products and services to help people “Go Green”. The 2010 Expo achieved a “Zero Waste Event” milestone by planning clever waste diversion strategies in advance. 1,260 pounds of materials were recycled and 1,265 pounds of organics were collected for composting. Over 90% of the waste produced by the event was diverted, and only 300 pounds of trash were generated, proving that large public events in North Texas can occur with minimal waste accumulation.

However, instead of trying to promote this technology for commercialization (a quick return-on-investment analysis shows it cannot be economically viable), the display’s purpose was to allow booth visitors to “feel” the amount of physical effort required to operate common entertainment center electronics. Expo visitors who alternated between playing video games and pedaling bicycles quickly realized the exhausting amount of peddling necessary to power the technology many take for granted. This experience will remind people to turn off electronics, lights, and other energy guzzling appliances when they not in use - a slight change in behavior that nonetheless has a dramatic impact on energy conservation.

It won't be too much longer and hardware design, as we used to know it, will be remembered alongside the slide rule and the Karnaugh map. You will need to move beyond those familiar bits and bytes into the new world of software centric design.

People who want to take advantage of solar energy in their homes no longer need to install a bolt-on solar-panel system atop their houses -- they can integrate solar-energy-harvesting shingles directing into an existing or new roof instead.

Kaspersky Labs indicated at its February meeting that cyber attacks are far more sophisticated than previous thought. It turns out even air-gapping (disconnecting computers from the Internet to protect against cyber intrusion) isn’t a foolproof way to avoid getting hacked. And Kaspersky implied the NSA is the smartest attacker.

Focus on Fundamentals consists of 45-minute on-line classes that cover a host of technologies. You learn without leaving the comfort of your desk. All classes are taught by subject-matter experts and all are archived. So if you can't attend live, attend at your convenience.